For nearly 20 years, Visa's brand tagline - "It's everywhere you want to be" - was ingrained in the minds and wallets of millions worldwide, so much so that it came to hold a place in pop culture. But, despite the ubiquity of the brand, Visa communications and marketing executives decided the tagline's connotation of universal acceptance needed a more modern makeover. That's not to say they needed to fix something that was broken; rather, it was a matter of evolving with the times and with their various audiences, which is something every company must do.
"Whatever the case, no service, product or company can overlook re-branding --it should be a function of anyone's core business plan," Matt Gorman, director of marketing for Eidos, said when discussing his company's rebranding in a recent BusinessWeek article. "Life changes, people change...You have to keep the brand fresh and consumers engaged -- it has to keep up with the world around them. Even if you're not failing, you can't keep saying the same thing year after year."
Clearly, Visa's management team had the same philosophy, and in 2006, the brand was reborn under the "Life Takes Visa" banner. Since then, the transition has been widely publicized as a success, but, as all communications professionals know, renovating brand identities is no small task. With that in mind, how did Visa - one of the best-known brands in the world - pull its rebranding off with such grace? The answer, it seems, is simple: If life takes Visa, re-branding takes multi-media.
"Digital communications platforms have to play a very important role in any rebranding," says Jon Raj,Visa USA's VP of advertising and emerging media. "It is the best way to make sure you reach all of your targets in a relevant way."
Raj played an instrumental role in rebooting the brand's online presence, and digital proved to be the overall campaign's secret sauce. Based on his experience, as well as those of others who have successfully led a rebranding initiative, PR and marketing executives should consider adding the following platforms to their strategies:
- A Microsite: The heart of Visa's online rebranding initiative was a microsite (lifetakesvisa.com) that hosted more than 50 video vignettes that had a home movie feel. Each video, arranged on the site's graphical interface to look like an arrangement of Polaroid pictures, conveyed the message that life takes courage, dads, trust, etc. The microsite-video marriage was a match made in heaven, with 4.7 million viewers swarming the site in the first month alone.
"With digital platforms, you don't have to worry about something being exactly 30, 60 or 90 seconds," Raj says. "You can use whatever time needed to get your message across. [When rebranding], it's not about fitting your message into a timeframe."
Communications professionals should use this platform as an opportunity to create a rich-media environment that is saturated with the new messages and themes; however, they should always be sure to incorporate some timeless or traditional element of the brand so it remains familiar. Otherwise, consumers will feel like they are looking at a completely different company.
- Mobile Phones/Video Games: Good vibrations or not, the PR team should consider teaming up with the marketing department and suggesting untraditional ad-delivery vehicles. For example, Raj oversaw initiatives that brought the "Life Takes Visa" brand to audiences through mobile phones: Ads were attached to ESPN content that was then downloaded to cell phones. Considering mobile platforms is wise because they reach people no matter where they are - a big plus in today's hectic, 24/7 media world.
In addition to this strategy, Raj and his communications team incorporated Visa messaging - not just Visa ad placements - into the series of CSI video games so that players could interact with the brand itself rather than just seeing banners or logos.
"When looking at video games [as a communications vehicle], we thought that product placement was fine, but we wanted to take it to the next level," Raj says. "We wanted to incorporate Visa's message of security into the actual storyline of the game, which is more powerful than just seeing our logo in the background."
The above options are just a sampler on the full menu of online rebranding opportunities, but Visa's showcase has proved to be satisfying thus far. However, no rebranding initiative should rely solely on cyber channels, nor should communications executives expect to follow a set-in-stone timeline (for additional best practices, see "Tips of the Trade" sidebar).
As Capcom Director of Brand Marketing Jack Symon put it, "You can't put a timetable on re-branding efforts--there's no formula that says that every third year you must do X. It's about having strong communication/feedback vehicles to find out from the audience what's needed to keep a property strong." PRN
CONTACTS:
Jon Raj, [email protected]; Stephen Debruyn, [email protected]; Diane Thieke, [email protected]
Tips of the Trade
Aside from considering the various digital channels that can communicate your new brand message, consider these best practices for overall rebranding success.
- Avoid rebranding committees, as they can often dilute strategies by triggering the "too many cooks in the kitchen" syndrome. Instead, opt for a small, core team to shape the new brand message, and then assign execution tactics accordingly.
- Don't just rephrase a message. Rebranding is about rebuilding something (and not necessarily because it's broken), not repainting it, as Charles Bellfield, VP of Marketing for Codemasters, suggested in a recent BusinessWeek article. "Rebranding should always go to the core of any company, not just translate to adding new wallpaper or a fresh coat of paint."
- Don't go for the hard-sell - just focus on spreading the good word. Digital communications channels have a built-in networking effect, so if you can convey your new brand message successfully, your fans will do the rest.
- Encourage engagement. The more consumers can interact with your brand, the better their connection will be. Online channels lend themselves to interaction more strongly than any traditional communications vehicle, so bite the bullet a log on.
- Put your employees first. Don't forget that before your external audiences can understand a new brand identity, your internal constituents have to know what's going on. "Our philosophy is to be completely transparent with all stakeholders, and particularly with employees," says Diane Thieke, director of global PR for the Enterprise Media Group of Dow Jones. "You must keep employees up-to-date and informed before external messages go out."
- Change is scary, so anticipate resistance and always offer explanations. "There is always resistance to change," says Stephen Debruyn, VP of marketing for Cision. "You have to tell the rebranding message - the 'why' of the story - and relate it to [audiences] with the values that the brand stands for." Because of the engaging nature of digital platforms, these communications channels can be the most effective in assuaging skeptical audiences.
- Make sure online efforts reinforce those initiatives happening offline. Online strategies should reflect interaction with and exploration of the new brand identity, but it should also supplement the more tangible, traditional means of communication. As always, it's important to remember that a one-size-fits-all approach is a recipe for failure.